Groupe Renault Debuts a World’s First in Autonomous Obstacle Avoidance that Matches Professional Test Drivers

Silicon Valley, November 7, 2017 – Today, Groupe Renault announced that it has developed an autonomous control system that handles challenging driving scenarios and, as an industry first, has obstacle avoidance capability as good as professional test drivers. These drivers, the best of best, served as the inspiration and the benchmark for this achievement at Renault Open Innovation Lab – Silicon Valley.

“At Groupe Renault, we are focused on being an innovation leader in products, technology and design,” said Simon Hougard, Director of Renault Open Innovation Lab – Silicon Valley. “Our innovation efforts aim at developing advanced autonomous driving technologies that consumers can trust will create a safer, more comfortable journey.”

The Renault Open Innovation Lab is part of the Labs network within the Alliance and is focused on improving safety and advancing autonomous driving technology. The technological advancement announced today:

Has been inspired by and tested against professional test drivers

Complements Renault’s existing achievements in driver-assistance systems (ADAS) and vehicle safety and is an important next step in using autonomous driving to improve vehicle safety

Will support Groupe Renault’s goal of becoming one of the first brands to offer widely available "Mind off" technology on mainstream vehicles and deploy fleets of robo-vehicles

The basis for this work comes from research published by Stanford University's Dynamic Design Lab (led by Professor Chris Gerdes, former Chief Innovation Officer of the U.S. Department of Transportation) that Renault Open Innovation Lab has been collaborating with.

With this new innovation, Groupe Renault is leveraging the strength of The Alliance and supports the launch of more than 15 Renault models with different levels of autonomous driving capabilities by 2022.

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About Groupe Renault

Groupe Renault has been making cars since 1898. Today it is an international multi-brand group, selling close to 3.2 million vehicles in 127 countries in 2016, with 36 manufacturing sites, 12,700 points of sales and employing more than 120,000 people. To meet the major technological challenges of the future and continue its strategy of profitable growth, the Group is harnessing its international growth and the complementary fit of its five brands, Renault, Dacia and Renault Samsung Motors, Alpine and LADA, together with electric vehicles and the unique Alliance with Nissan. With a new team in Formula 1 and a strong commitment to Formula E, Renault sees motorsport as a vector of innovation and brand awareness.

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